For Curtains Up by Tracey Hill
Capping off my first Fringe Fest experience, I have to say that the warmth and hospitality of English Media Director Cam McKinnon and Fringe Director Amy Blackmore was nothing short of incredible. They made sure that I felt comfortable, welcomed, and introduced me to a plethora of talented, dedicated individuals.
Last night my esteemed colleague Sharman Yarnell accompanied me to see Holy Tranity at Café Cleopatre on St. Laurent Boulevard. Our seats were such that at one point, we were almost a part of act II. Interesting to have a semi-clad stripper leaning his tushie up against our table while engaged in dialogue…
The venue works really well for a short (1 hour + intermission), interactive play. Small stage, cocktail tables and chairs dotted throughout the room, waitresses slinking about, fitting into each scene without detracting from the play; Set in the 1980s, a young, gay runaway working at a strip club under the watchful eye of a maternal tranny queen falls under the glamorous spell of sex, drugs and the Icarus-themed heat of the spotlight.
The plot wasn’t as light and ‘gay’ as I had expected. But this is the Fringe after all.
Themes of suicide, shame, religious guilt, parental rejection, AIDS, gender transformation, sex, artistic expression, social justice, equality, humor and identity all intermingle and come to a frightening and poignant conclusion.
Antonio Bavaro plays Gracie, a talented transgender queen and mother/goddess figure who works at the Rainbow Lounge in Montreal’s Gay Village. He/she deftly steals the show with quippy one-liners, shortened versions of 80s pop songs, glittery costume changes and gorgeous make-up. Great acting and punchy line delivery keeps the audience enraptured and enchanted.
Gracie’s doomed (to AIDS) friend Michael, played by Simon Therrien rejects Jude’s advances due to his condition, but tries to educate the boy as to the social injustices happening at the height of the AIDS crisis. Therrien does a superb job convincing us of his isolation, fear and strength of conviction.
Jerome Gagnon plays Jude, a gay 17 year-old, running away from the constraints and violence of a traditional family who lives by the tenets of the holy book. This, unfortunately, is the only part of the play that made me keep wishing it was over. Gagnon’s performance was completely over-indulgent, fraught with fidgety body language, line-throwing and really, really bad acting.
Where was the director during rehearsal?
Another aspect that made me think that this play—well written with enormous potential—hasn’t simmered enough, is that it feels disjointed and ‘incomplete’. Something intangible seems missing, and I felt as though the emotional intensity is too intense through over-acting on the part of Gagnon and not enough subtlety infused into the threading of the plot.
That being said, Holy Tranity has a whole lot of good things; Bavaro, Therrien, writer Puelo Deir, costumes, music, and a resplendent, intelligent story line that anyone over the age of 30 can relate to in terms of recent history, equality, love and at the end….acceptance.
